This salad is comforting and flavour overload, perfect for colder months.
It is great as a stand alone light meal or alongside other dishes such as roasted meats.
I choose Jasberry rice for its lovely nutty flavour and extra nutrition. Also their story is heartwarming.
I like to use the lovely Urban Hippie miso paste from Nelson NZ.
The word Karaage is thought to mean “Chinese fried” and it is usually a method of cooking chicken.
This vegan alternative is easy to make and so very delicious.
Serve it as a shared plate at a meal or as a starter.
The same recipe can be used for chicken, use boneless chicken thighs chopped into 3cm chunks.
This slice is great for a gluten-free treat. Obviously check your ingredients for this though.
It its quick to make and is very popular in our house.
This is the most delicious lemon meringue pie I have personally ever tasted and it is all about the filling. Many recipes use a lemon curd but I find that with the addition of cream to the curd mixture, it creates a softer more balanced flavour and it is truly utterly delicious.
You don’t need to make your own pastry, buy a commercial sweet short pastry if you prefer. If doing so then ignore the first 5 ingredients.
Make sure the meringue is spooned onto a piping hot filling. This helps to cook the meringue so that it doesn’t need extended cooking time in the oven.
My teenagers really like this dish, the ingredient list may look long but it is essentially a full meal and the method is simple. You just need a simple green salad alongside.
Gochujang paste is from Korea, it is savoury, spicy and slightly sweet. You can find it at Asian food stores and in many supermarkets.
This is such a tasty dinner and only needs a simple green salad or steamed greens.
I usually sprinkle some roasted cashew nuts over just before serving.
Use whatever cut of chicken you prefer. I like chicken with bone and skin intact but it is up to you.
I make this in my 28cm cast iron frying pan. I have a lid that fits snugly and it is such an easy dinner. I make my own curry powder blend that has fennel and other aromatics but you can use your favourite bought brand.
Winter is about to get a whole lot tastier with the launch of the third annual Great NZ Toastie Takeover.
Celebrating the delicious Kiwi staple that is the not-so-humble toasted sandwich, eateries right around the country will once again be putting their unique spin on the iconic snack.
The competition element of the Great NZ Toastie Takeover returns this year, too, with 83 establishments vying for the title of New Zealand’s top toasted sandwich in 2020 – a 66% increase on the number of entries last year.
Cook & Nelson and McClure’s Pickles will be scouring the country for the best toasted sandwiches from Monday, June 29 and they’re encouraging the public to do the same at the participating eateries.
Eateries include restaurants, bars, cafes, supermarket, garden and department store cafes, café-stores, breweries and even a hole in the wall servery – ensuring many toastie lovers have the chance to warm up this winter with a delicious toastie creation.
And the competition is bound to be tough as the luminaries of the toastie world look to take the mantle from the Hokitika Sandwich Company, who wowed the judges in 2019 with their winning combination of corned beef, McClure’s Sweet & Spicy Pickles, harvati and cream cheeses, red onion and their own in-house sauce.
This year’s entries include The Squishy Combo – a cross between a toastie and burger from Burger Burger Newmarket – The Mount McClure’s Mauler from The General in Mt Maunganui with its 12-hour braised pulled pork and apple, chilli and mint slaw, and a new take on the famous South Island cheese roll at Christchurch’s Earl Bistro. There’s even a vegan toastie on offer at Wellington’s Mockingbird, with vegan mascarpone, Angel Food cheddar, miso butter, caramelised onion, facon and McClure’s Sweet & Spicy pickles.
Judging will take place over July with the 12 finalists (made up of two entries from each of the six competition regions) announced on Monday, August 3. The competition’s toast-master-royale will then visit the finalists in August to sample their creations and liaise with McClure’s Pickles co-founder, Joe McClure, to determine New Zealand’s best toastie of 2020.
McClure, who visited New Zealand from the US to judge the competition in 2019, says he’s disappointed to not be able to sample the competition entries this year.
“I’m gutted to miss my annual Kiwi road trip,” he says. “I long for the beautiful sights and sounds of New Zealand, not to mention the world class toasties!”
“Much like everyone else, we’ve had to find a way to do things online in 2020, but I can’t wait to see what everyone has been creating and get detailed tasting feedback from my toast-master-royale.”
Head judge Kerry Tyack and his group of 30 toastie aficionados will be ensuring each entry meets the following competition guidelines: Toasties must be sandwiched between two slices of bread and be able to be eaten by hand if necessary. The toasties must also contain cheese, pickles from McClure’s delicious range, with all other sandwich elements left up to the participating cafes’ imagination.
Each toastie will be scored on a set criteria, including presentation, effectiveness of preparation technique, eatability, taste, innovation and originality.
All finalists will receive a case of McClure’s pickles and dine-in vouchers to give away to their customers. The supreme winner will be announced on Wednesday, September 3, and will walk away with a year’s worth of pickles, more dine-in vouchers, a toastie trophy – and most importantly, bragging rights to the best toasted sandwich in the country.
And the toastie love is being spread even further this year with the public able to enter their own home creations in a separate category. Simply create your toastie, tag it on the social media of your choice with #toastietakeover to enter the draw to win a year’s supply of McClure’s pickles. It’s time to put all that bread-making and toastie-eating practice from lockdown to the test!
For more information about the Great New Zealand Toastie Takeover competitions, check out www.toastietakeover.com. The participating eateries are listed by region below.
And for more about McClure’s Pickles, see mcclures.com.
#toastietakeover @cookandnelson; @mcclurespickles.
uckland /Northland
Hamilton/ Waikato/ Coromandel/ BOP/ Rotorua
Central North Island
Wellington Region
Upper South Island
Rest of South Island
This rich and hearty casserole is perfect for winter and while the ingredient list may look long, it is simple to make and can be made well ahead of time.
While we have used beef cheeks you can of course use any other stewing steak.
Kathy Paterson tells me she has been making this cheesecake for years and has no idea where the original recipe came from. Ben Hurst, a former rugby player for Canterbury gave her a similar one, but Ben’s uses lime zest and juice and he serves his cheesecake with a raspberry sauce.
Kathy has kindly shared her recipe with us.
It is creamy and luscious and perfect for entertaining.
It is a recipe that works well made the day before eating.
Check out Kathy’s website with her Let Bake Together recipes.
*Note from Helen, I deviated on the garnish of the cheesecake photographed to fresh raspberries and mint leaves.
Also with my oven after 30 minutes I increase the oven temperature to 140 C.
This winter pasta dish is so full of delicious flavours and textures. When Brussels sprouts are shredded and pan-fried the flavour and texture is fabulous.
The prosciutto can be served on the side to make it vegetarian suitable.
For those who like spice then some chilli flakes would be great as well.
The addition of black forest chocolate turns this from a simple hedgehog slice into something much more glamourous!
My friend Vic Brown is famous for her version, she gifts it to everyone and it is fondly known as Vickie slice.
*Recipe has been amended in the realisation that Cadbury’s Black Forest chocolate weighs 180g not 200g.
Growing up in NZ our chocolate chip biscuits were inherently small, crisp and usually contained small chips of chocolate and sweetened condensed milk.
My teens see these as a bit ho hum and instead like the American style cookies, filled with big chunks of molten chocolate that are delicious when eaten warm and then cool to a crisp on the outside and softish style biscuit.
After playing around with a few recipes including David Leite’s famous 36 hour cookies I have come up with a simple recipe that everyone is happy with.
For many of us this year has meant a reduction and income making it all the more necessary to spend wisely. We have put together 20 of our favourite economical tasty dinner recipes that will hopefully give you some winter inspiration but without breaking the bank. We also welcome your suggestions of course.
Have you tried Barker’s of Geraldine’s Tomato Sauce yet? In my post-Covid considered shopping I am happy to be supporting a Kiwi business using NZ-grown tomatoes, glass instead of plastic and the reduced salt and sugar are a bonus too.
Happy Cooking!
I am a huge bhaji fan and could never miss ordering them at an Indian or Sri Lankan restaurant.
These are exactly as I like them. Barely any batter but essentially onion bound together with a little egg, chickpea flour and spices.
We top ours with yoghurt, mint and a dollop or mango or tamarind chutney.
Thanks to Kit Perera from Chef For a Night for his wonderful Sri Lankan recipes and inspiration.
